Syria rejects OPCW "accusations" of chemical weapon use

The Syrian Foreign Ministry rejected on Sunday the "accusations" recently made by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), claiming the Syrian army used chemical weapons in Syria, according to the state news agency SANA.

On Friday, the OPCW's executive body voted in favor of condemning the use of banned toxic agents by the Syrian government and the Islamic State (IS) group, saying "Syrian Arab Armed Forces and the so-called Islamic State have been involved in the use of chemical weapons and toxic chemicals as weapons."

Following the decision, the council determined that further inspection and verification must take place in Syria.

"There is a clear determination across the international community to hold those who have used these heinous weapons to account," said British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson in a statement responding to the vote.

However, the decision was opposed by Russia, China, Sudan and Iran.

As for the Syrian Foreign Ministry, it said the vote was "biased," and rejected the accusations against the Syrian army's use of chemical agents.

Yet, the ministry said that it will carefully study the decision before giving a final say regarding conducting further investigations in Syrian government sites.

The Syrian government has always rejected such accusations, stressing that it is committed to the pledges it made when it joined the treaty of chemical weapons convention.

In addition, the Syrian army repeatedly accused rebels of using chemical gas, with the latest most notable accusation in government-controlled areas in the northern city of Aleppo, where tens of people suffered from suffocation and breathing difficulties following a gas attack by the rebels.

Pro-government Sham FM radio cited sources in the besieged Shiite village of Foa, in the northwestern province of Idlib, as saying that the rebels fired rockets stuffed with chemical materials which released yellow foam upon explosion in the village, adding that several people suffered from suffocation.

Chemical weapons are believed to have been used in several areas in Syria in recent years, with the government and the rebels exchanging accusations.

Around 1,400 people were killed when several opposition-controlled areas in the suburbs of Damascus were struck by rockets containing the chemical agent sarin on Aug. 21, 2013, after which both the opposition and the government exchanged accusations.

Also in 2013, a chemical attack hit the then government-controlled town of Khan al-Asal in the countryside of Aleppo, and several Syrian soldiers and civilians were either killed or suffered from suffocation.

The government accused the rebels again, who, in turn, denied the accusation.

In October 2013, OPCW officials arrived in Syria to monitor the dismantlement of the Syrian chemical weapons arsenal, after Damascus officially joined the OPCW Convention.

The OPCW later said the government rendered its chemical weapons production facilities inoperable.

The dismantlement of the Syrian chemical weapons was according to a U.S.-Russian understanding, the first sign of a consensus between both powers on the Syrian conflict.

Since then, reports of poisonous gas attacks keep emerging every once in a while. Endit